LSU men’s basketball (16-8, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) closed out the regular season with an 86-80 win over Missouri (15-8, 8-8 SEC).
It was mostly back-and-forth to start the game. Missouri took an early 12-8 lead but found themselves down double digits shortly after. LSU went on a 16-2 run fueled by freshman guard Cam Thomas to take a 24-14 lead.
Missouri fought back on a 22-11 run of their own to tie things up at the break. Thomas led all scorers with 13 points in the first half. Sophomore forward Trendon Watford was everywhere as he scored five points, grabbed four rebounds and dished three assists.
LSU trailed for most of the second half. Missouri took a six-point lead with 9:32 left to play, their largest of the game. LSU reclaimed a 69-68 lead after a Thomas jumpshot just under six minutes.
LSU closed out the game with a 6-0 run after Missouri tied things up at 80. Watford finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four assists. He hit a clutch basket to break the tie with just over a minute left to play.
“I got off to a slow first half,” Watford said. “I kept my head up and my teammates kept me going. I just came out aggressive in the second half. That last basket I hit is something I work on every day. I live for that moment. It was a great win.”
Thomas finished with a game-high 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting for his 19th game of the season with at least 20 points. He added three rebounds and one assist.
“He hit some really tough shots today,” Will Wade said. “He’s such a dynamic player. We try to give him the confidence to take those shots. He certainly works on them and has an ability to draw fouls. He’s a special special player and he made some big plays for us.”
LSU has now won five of their last seven. They head into the SEC Tournament looking to do some damage before the NCAA Tournament.
“Hopefully this will ignite us and get us going,” Wade said. “We’ve got to finish strong and continue this play into the SEC Tournament. We take this thing seriously. We’re gonna be ready to go in Nashville. It’s a point of pride for us. We’re gonna give it our all and do what we can to try to reverse some of the bad history in this deal.”
